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Chaitra Sankranti

Mung dal makha prasad - Fruity and Nutty
Yellow Lentil

Food has great importance for Vedic Indians. All who live on this earth have to subsist on food called panacea. One is advised to worship food for it enables a man to use all his faculties. They wanted to maintain a harmonious balance between the different aspects of life. It was this outlook on life which made them attach considerable importance to the matter of food. These sages believed that the health of a man depended considerably on the type of seasonal food he takes. With that aim different food preparations were prescribed in different seasons by different puja rituals.

These preparations of yellow
lentil and seasonal fruits and jawb or barley sattu was
always made and served as a offering of Neel Shasthi Puja and Charak puja
on Chaitra Sankranti the day before Pahela Baishakh
festival.

Jawb or barley Sattu

The food products required in the various religious practices from the Vedic period that has been continuing till now has ensured their survival even after so many years since they were cultivated ritually for these reasons framed to maintain the purity of food. In recent times the degradation of our resources like soil, drinking water etc. has made us realize the importance of these seasonal puja rituals in maintaining the ecological balance, which we cannot afford to ignore them still now.

Therefore, the above facts prove it that ancient Indians attached great importance to proper diet of the people. These recipes are mostly religious in character but provide us with some data about the food articles used by early Aryans as most of the offerings which they made to the gods consisted of the food articles, which they themselves used.

My intention is to identify the food items that are free from any religious and communal bias and refer to the food habits of the people in all parts of India, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian.

As now, cereals formed a very important part of Indian food and among cereals the most important place was occupied by barley. In the Atharva veda it is called one of the two immortal sons of heaven i.e. barley and rice. It was ground and formed into cakes which were dipped into ghee before eating. Sweet cakes (apupa) of barley flour were also prepared. Parched barley was eaten either whole with Soma juice or ground into meal, which was mixed with curds, clarified butter, Soma juice. Water is preferred to frequently in the post Rigveda literature. Two varieties of barley, one superior and the other inferior and two of those wheat called Nandimukhi and Madhulika were used. All the old preparations of barley and wheat were in use but yavagu seems to be very popular. Some new preparations such as vitanaka, polika, istaka, and locika are mentioned. As before groats were taken in the liquid form as also when they were prepared in a thick consistency. People often took groats with them when proceeding on a journey.

The general rules of etiquette were clearly mentioned in Vedic period significantly for the medical reasons. The duty of preparing food and taking meals on a clean piece of leaf after washing hands, feet and mouth is equally emphasized through puja rituals. Necessity of changing food according to the climatic temperature and temperament of human character and not eating the same preparations day after day was fully recognized by them.

Prep time: 00:10
| Cook time:
00:05
|
Total time: 00:15 | Yield: 2 servingsIngredients
Ingredients:
Thankuni pata/ Centella leaves, 2 bunches about 100 g Green chilies 2 Kalo jeera (onion seeds), 1 tsp Salt to taste Oil 1 tspA pinch of sugar to balance the tasteInstructions: Take the leaves from bunches (you can use whole leaves with stigma). Wash and clean thoroughly and keep in a big bowl of lukewarm water for 5 minutes. Take out leaves from water, do not strain, use your hand and remove leaves from water carefully.Though thankuni is usually not attacked by pets and diseases of serious nature, but this a small,…

Bhut chadurdoshi and Choddo Shak - 14 Greens ritualBhut chadurdoshi and Choddo Shak - 14 Greens ritual
Green Gaga
By Barnali Dutta,
published by Prasadam: October 22, 2014Tomorrow is Kali puja. On this day the Mother, the Goddess of Strength [Shakti], the source of all, the universal principle of energy, power or creativity is worshipped and this is also known as the famous Festival of Lights - Diwali. By Diwali I remember that in the market today, alongside large displays of fire crackers, lined up wicker baskets full of green herb is to be found too. In no time I had decided and amassed with lots of health arrived there. Truely, it is a rare opportunity to have so many rare edible green vegetables available in the market in Kolkata these days.

According to our forefathers this is the time at the end of the monsoons when people should start eating herbs in Bengal. I still wonder how much have we progressed or advanced or modernized from our forefathers. Man has left behind a wonde…

Sabir's Mutton Rezala Recipe
Sabir's Mutton Rezala Recipe
By Barnali Dutta,
published by Prasadam: October 13, 2014Mutton Rezala with Paratha is the most desirable dish during the festive season of our family due to its comparitively low richness, the fact which has set our mind free to eat sufficient red meat once in a year in the tropical geographical climatic region like Kolkata. The word 'rezala' stands for "khoobsurat" meaning beautiful. In reality the beauty of this highly popular Mughal dish Rezala [lamb or goat meat in a thin yogurt sauce] can only be understood by those who have tasted it from the menu of Sabir's Hotel. This eatery situated at 3 and 5 Biplabi Anukul Chandra Street, Chandni Chowk metro station, kolkata acquainted the Bengali cuisine in the year 1948.
Said Sabir Ali from the state of Uttar Pradesh came to Kolkata in search of earnings. While working for a daily meal eatery where he used to make tikia and paratha he conceived th…